Controlling Mobile Device Access to Secure Data

ABSTRACT

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to providing secure containers or data vaults for data of one or more managed applications. In some embodiments, each managed application may be assigned its own private data vault and/or may be assigned a shared data vault that is accessible to at least one other managed application. As the managed application executes, calls for access to the data may be intercepted and redirected to the secure containers. Data stored in a secure container may be encrypted according to a policy. Other aspects relate to deleting data from a secure container, such as via a selective wipe of data associated with a managed application. Further aspects relate to configuring and creating the secure containers, retrieving key information required to encrypt/decrypt the data stored in the secure containers, and publishing the managed applications, policy information and key information for download to a mobile device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 14/041,911, filed Sep. 30, 2013,and entitled “CONTROLLING MOBILE DEVICE ACCESS TO SECURE DATA;” whichclaims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.14/039,632, filed Sep. 27, 2013, and entitled “CONTROLLING MOBILE DEVICEACCESS TO SECURE DATA,” and the following provisional applications: U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/861,910, filed Aug. 2, 2013,and entitled “CONTROLLING MOBILE DEVICE ACCESS TO SECURE DATA;” U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/714,293, filed Oct. 16, 2012,and entitled “MANAGING ENCRYPTED DATA VAULTS FOR MANAGED APPLICATIONS ONUNMANAGED MOBILE DEVICE;” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 61/806,577, filed Mar. 29, 2013, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR ENTERPRISE MOBILITY MANAGEMENT.”

Each of the above-mentioned patent applications is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Aspects of the disclosure relate to computer hardware and software. Inparticular, one or more aspects of the disclosure generally relate tocomputer hardware and software for providing an enterprise applicationstore.

Increasingly, corporations and other organizations are providing and/orotherwise enabling their employees and other associates with mobiledevices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, and other mobilecomputing devices. As these devices continue to grow in popularity andprovide an increasing number of functions, many organizations may wishto place certain controls on how these devices can be used, whatresources these devices can access, and how the applications running onthese devices can interact with other resources.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure provide more efficient, effective, functional,and convenient ways of controlling how mobile devices can be used, whatresources mobile devices can access, and how the applications running onthese devices can interact with other resources. In particular, in oneor more embodiments discussed in greater detail below, an enterpriseapplication store may be implemented that can provide these andfeatures.

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to providing secure containersor data vaults for data of one or more managed applications. In someembodiments, each managed application may be assigned its own privatedata vault and/or may be assigned a shared data vault that is accessibleto at least one other managed application. As the managed applicationexecutes, calls for access to the data may be intercepted and redirectedto the secure containers. Data stored in a secure container may beencrypted according to a policy.

Other aspects relate to deleting data from a secure container, such asvia a selective wipe of data associated with a managed application. Forexample, some aspects relate to a mobile device intercepting a read orwrite operation from a managed application executing on the mobiledevice; accessing, based on the read or write operation, a securecontainer that is a logical interface into which read or writeoperations are redirected and in which data is in an encrypted form;determining to perform a selective wipe of data associated with themanaged application; and deleting encrypted data from the securecontainer.

Additional aspects relate to creating or otherwise configuring a securecontainer. For example, some aspects relate to a mobile device obtainingpolicy information via an access gateway through which a resourcerequired by a managed application is accessible, wherein the policyinformation defines a secure container to be used when the managedapplication is executing; obtaining key information via the accessgateway, wherein the key information includes one or more keys forencrypting or decrypting data of the secure container; configuring thesecure container based on the policy information, wherein the securecontainer is a logical interface into which read or write operations areredirected and in which data is in an encrypted form; intercepting aread or write operation from the managed application while the managedapplication is executing on the mobile device; and accessing, based onthe read or write operation, the secure container.

Further aspects relate to receiving key information required toencrypt/decrypt the data stored in the secure containers. For example,some aspects relate to a mobile device transmitting a message to anaccess gateway through which a resource required by a managedapplication is accessible, wherein the message is in connection with anauthorization process for accessing said resource; receiving keyinformation via the access gateway, wherein the key information includesone or more keys for encrypting or decrypting data of a secure containerthat is a logical interface into which read or write operations areredirected and in which data is in an encrypted form; intercepting aread or write operation from the managed application while the managedapplication is executing on the mobile device; and accessing, based onthe read or write operation and the one or more keys, the securecontainer.

Yet further aspects relate to publishing the managed applications,policy information and key information for download to a mobile device.For example, some aspects relate to one or more computing devicesdetermining, for a managed application that is to be made accessible forinstalling on one or more mobile devices, policy information thatdefines one or more secure containers to be used when the managedapplication is executing; determining key information that includes oneor more keys for encrypting or decrypting data of the one or more securecontainers; publishing the managed application, policy information andkey information such that all are accessible for installing on the oneor more mobile devices; and transmitting the managed application, policyinformation and key information to a mobile device.

These features, along with many others, are discussed in greater detailbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitedin the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicatesimilar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative virtualized (hypervisor) systemarchitecture that may be used in accordance one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative cloud-based system architecture that maybe used in accordance various aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative enterprise mobility management systemthat may be used in accordance with one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts another illustrative enterprise mobility managementsystem that may be used in accordance with various aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example diagram where a private data vault andshared data vault may be accessed according to one or more aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method for storing data within a datavault or container in connection with a managed application inaccordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method suitable for performing a selectivewipe of data from one or more secure containers of a mobile device inaccordance with one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example process in which a managed application isconfigured in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method for providing encryption anddecryption keys for secure containers in accordance with one or moreaspects described herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example method for publishing a managedapplication in connection with various aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects described herein may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural andfunctional modifications may be made without departing from the scopedescribed herein. Various aspects are capable of other embodiments andof being practiced or being carried out in various different ways.

As a general introduction to the subject matter described in more detailbelow, various aspects of the disclosure relate to providing securecontainers or data vaults for data of one or more managed applications.In some embodiments, each managed application may be assigned its ownprivate data vault and/or may be assigned a shared data vault that isaccessible to at least one other managed application. As the managedapplication executes, calls for access to the data may be interceptedand redirected to the secure containers. Data stored in a securecontainer may be encrypted according to a policy that may be set by anenterprise. Accordingly, data retrieved from the secure containers mayneed to be decrypted prior to forwarding to the application. Otheraspects relate to deleting data from a secure container, such as via aselective wipe of data associated with a managed application (e.g., whenthe managed application is uninstalled or when mobile device is operatedin violation the enterprise's policy). Further aspects relate toconfiguring and creating the secure containers, retrieving keyinformation required to encrypt/decrypt the data stored in the securecontainers, and publishing the managed applications, policy informationand key information for download to a mobile device (e.g., in anapplication store).

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “mounted,” “connected,”“coupled,” “positioned,” “engaged” and similar terms, is meant toinclude both direct and indirect mounting, connecting, coupling,positioning and engaging.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (aka, remote desktop), virtualized, and/or cloud-basedenvironments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a systemarchitecture and data processing device that may be used to implementone or more illustrative aspects described herein in a standalone and/ornetworked environment. Various network nodes 103, 105, 107, and 109 maybe interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) 101, such as theInternet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used, includingprivate intranets, corporate networks, LANs, metropolitan area networks(MAN) wireless networks, personal networks (PAN), and the like. Network101 is for illustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer oradditional computer networks. A local area network (LAN) may have one ormore of any known LAN topology and may use one or more of a variety ofdifferent protocols, such as Ethernet. Devices 103, 105, 107, 109 andother devices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of thenetworks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radiowaves or other communication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across allphysical networks.

The components may include data server 103, web server 105, and clientcomputers 107, 109. Data server 103 provides overall access, control andadministration of databases and control software for performing one ormore illustrative aspects describe herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the network 101 (e.g., theInternet), via direct or indirect connection, or via some other network.Users may interact with the data server 103 using remote computers 107,109, e.g., using a web browser to connect to the data server 103 via oneor more externally exposed web sites hosted by web server 105. Clientcomputers 107, 109 may be used in concert with data server 103 to accessdata stored therein, or may be used for other purposes. For example,from client device 107 a user may access web server 105 using anInternet browser, as is known in the art, or by executing a softwareapplication that communicates with web server 105 and/or data server 103over a computer network (such as the Internet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the specific network architecture and dataprocessing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionalitythat they provide, as further described herein. For example, servicesprovided by web server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on asingle server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the rate server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include RAM 113, ROM 115, network interface 117,input/output interfaces 119 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer,etc.), and memory 121. I/O 119 may include a variety of interface unitsand drives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data orfiles. Memory 121 may further store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data processing device 103, controllogic 125 for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects describedherein, and other application software 127 providing secondary, support,and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunctionwith aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred toherein as the data server software 125. Functionality of the data serversoftware may refer to operations or decisions made automatically basedon rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providinginput into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processingbased on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects described herein, including a first database 129 and a seconddatabase 131. In some embodiments, the first database may include thesecond database (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, theinformation can be stored in a single database, or separated intodifferent logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on systemdesign. Devices 105, 107, 109 may have similar or different architectureas described with respect to device 103. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that the functionality of data processing device 103 (ordevice 105, 107, 109) as described herein may be spread across multipledata processing devices, for example, to distribute processing loadacross multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographiclocation, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc.

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable dataand/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as describedherein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source codeprogramming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or maybe written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to) HTML orXML. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage)media representing data or events as described herein may be transferredbetween a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic wavestraveling through signal-conducting media such as metal wires, opticalfibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Therefore, variousfunctionalities may be embodied in whole or in part in software,firmware and/or hardware or hardware equivalents such as integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.Particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement oneor more aspects described herein, and such data structures arecontemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions andcomputer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2, one or more aspects described hereinmay be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG. 2 depicts anexample system architecture including a generic computing device 201 inan illustrative computing environment 200 that may be used according toone or more illustrative aspects described herein. Generic computingdevice 201 may be used as a server 206 a in a single-server ormulti-server desktop virtualization system (e.g., a remote access orcloud system) configured to provide virtual machines for client accessdevices. The generic computing device 201 may have a processor 203 forcontrolling overall operation of the server and its associatedcomponents, including random access memory (RAM) 205, read-only memory(ROM) 207, input/output (I/O) module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of generic computing device 201 may provide input, and may alsoinclude one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and a videodisplay device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or other storage toprovide instructions to processor 203 for configuring generic computingdevice 201 into a special purpose computing device in order to performvarious functions as described herein. For example, memory 215 may storesoftware used by the computing device 201, such as an operating system217, application programs 219, and an associated database 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices). The terminals 240 may be personalcomputers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers thatinclude many or all of the elements described above with respect to thegeneric computing device 103 or 201. The network connections depicted inFIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a wide area network(WAN) 229, but may also include other networks. When used in a LANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may be connected to the LAN225 through a network interface or adapter 223. When used in a WANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may include a modem 227 orother wide area network interface for establishing communications overthe WAN 229, such as computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet). It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersmay be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals 240 may also bemobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, notebooks,etc.) including various other components, such as a battery, speaker,and antennas (not shown).

Aspects described herein may also be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of other computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspectsdescribed herein include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more client devices 240 may be incommunication with one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referredto herein as “server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computingenvironment 200 may include a network appliance installed between theserver(s) 206 and client machine(s) 240. The network appliance maymanage client/server connections, and in some cases can load balanceclient connections amongst a plurality of backend servers 206.

The client machine(s) 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as asingle client machine 240 or a single group of client machines 240,while server(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or asingle group of servers 206. In one embodiment a single client machine240 communicates with more than one server 206, while in anotherembodiment a single server 206 communicates with more than one clientmachine 240. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 240communicates with a single server 206.

A client machine 240 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s);client computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referenced by anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the client machine 240 may be a virtual machine. Thevirtual machine may be any virtual machine, while in some embodimentsthe virtual machine may be any virtual machine managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor, while in aspects thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server 206or a hypervisor executing on a client 240.

Some embodiments include a client device 240 that displays applicationoutput generated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 orother remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device240 may execute a virtual machine receiver program or application todisplay the output in an application window, a browser, or other outputwindow. In one example, the application is a desktop, while in otherexamples the application is an application that generates or presents adesktop. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications, as used herein, areprograms that execute after an instance of an operating system (and,optionally, also the desktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n such that the servers 206 a-206 n are logically grouped togetherinto a server farm 206, for example, in a cloud computing environment.The server farm 206 may include servers 206 that are geographicallydispersed while and logically grouped together, or servers 206 that arelocated proximate to each other while logically grouped together.Geographically dispersed servers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206can, in some embodiments, communicate using a WAN (wide), MAN(metropolitan), or LAN (local), where different geographic regions canbe characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm may include servers 206 that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, etc.) In other embodiments,server farm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers thatexecute a first type of operating system platform, and a second group ofone or more servers that execute a second type of operating systemplatform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SSL VPNserver, a firewall, a web server, an application server or as a masterapplication server, a server executing an active directory, or a serverexecuting an application acceleration program that provides firewallfunctionality, application functionality, or load balancingfunctionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 106 a that receives requestsfrom a client machine 240, forwards the request to a second server 106b, and responds to the request generated by the client machine 240 witha response from the second server 106 b. First server 106 a may acquirean enumeration of applications available to the client machine 240 andwell as address information associated with an application server 206hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. First server 106 a can then present a response to theclient's request using a web interface, and communicate directly withthe client 240 to provide the client 240 with access to an identifiedapplication. One or more clients 240 and/or one or more servers 206 maytransmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 2 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative desktopvirtualization system. As shown, the desktop virtualization system maybe single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, including atleast one virtualization server 206 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more client accessdevices 240. As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environmentor space in which one or more applications may be hosted and/orexecuted. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications may include programsthat execute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally,also the desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating systemmay be physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual(e.g., many instances of an OS running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

With further reference to FIG. 3, a computer device 301 may beconfigured as a virtualization server in a virtualization environment,for example, a single-server, multi-server, or cloud computingenvironment. Virtualization server 301 illustrated in FIG. 3 can bedeployed as and/or implemented by one or more embodiments of the server206 illustrated in FIG. 2 or by other known computing devices. Includedin virtualization server 301 is a hardware layer that can include one ormore physical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308 and one or more physical memories 316. In someembodiments, firmware 312 can be stored within a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and can be executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Virtualization server 301 may further include anoperating system 314 that may be stored in a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Still further, a hypervisor 302 may be stored in amemory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executed by one ormore of the physical processors 308.

Executing on one or more of the physical processors 308 may be one ormore virtual machines 332A-C (generally 332). Each virtual machine 332may have a virtual disk 326A-C and a virtual processor 328A-C. In someembodiments, a first virtual machine 332A may execute, using a virtualprocessor 328A, a control program 320 that includes a tools stack 324.Control program 320 may be referred to as a control virtual machine,Dom0, Domain 0, or other virtual machine used for system administrationand/or control. In some embodiments, one or more virtual machines 332B-Ccan execute, using a virtual processor 328B-C, a guest operating system330A-B.

Virtualization server 301 may include a hardware layer 310 with one ormore pieces of hardware that communicate with the virtualization server301. In some embodiments, the hardware layer 310 can include one or morephysical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308, and one or more memory 216. Physical components304, 306, 308, and 316 may include, for example, any of the componentsdescribed above. Physical devices 306 may include, for example, anetwork interface card, a video card, a keyboard, a mouse, an inputdevice, a monitor, a display device, speakers, an optical drive, astorage device, a universal serial bus connection, a printer, a scanner,a network element (e.g., router, firewall, network address translator,load balancer, virtual private network (VPN) gateway, Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) router, etc.), or any device connected toor communicating with virtualization server 301. Physical memory 316 inthe hardware layer 310 may include any type of memory. Physical memory316 may store data, and in some embodiments may store one or moreprograms, or set of executable instructions. FIG. 3 illustrates anembodiment where firmware 312 is stored within the physical memory 316of virtualization server 301. Programs or executable instructions storedin the physical memory 316 can be executed by the one or more processors308 of virtualization server 301.

Virtualization server 301 may also include a hypervisor 302. In someembodiments, hypervisor 302 may be a program executed by processors 308on virtualization server 301 to create and manage any number of virtualmachines 332. Hypervisor 302 may be referred to as a virtual machinemonitor, or platform virtualization software. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 can be any combination of executable instructions andhardware that monitors virtual machines executing on a computingmachine. Hypervisor 302 may be Type 2 hypervisor, where the hypervisorthat executes within an operating system 314 executing on thevirtualization server 301. Virtual machines then execute at a levelabove the hypervisor. In some embodiments, the Type 2 hypervisorexecutes within the context of a user's operating system such that theType 2 hypervisor interacts with the user's operating system. In otherembodiments, one or more virtualization servers 201 in a virtualizationenvironment may instead include a Type 1 hypervisor (not shown). A Type1 hypervisor may execute on the virtualization server 301 by directlyaccessing the hardware and resources within the hardware layer 310. Thatis, while a Type 2 hypervisor 302 accesses system resources through ahost operating system 314, as shown, a Type 1 hypervisor may directlyaccess all system resources without the host operating system 314. AType 1 hypervisor may execute directly on one or more physicalprocessors 308 of virtualization server 301, and may include programdata stored in the physical memory 316.

Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, can provide virtual resources tooperating systems 330 or control programs 320 executing on virtualmachines 332 in any manner that simulates the operating systems 330 orcontrol programs 320 having direct access to system resources. Systemresources can include, but are not limited to, physical devices 306,physical disks 304, physical processors 308, physical memory 316 and anyother component included in virtualization server 301 hardware layer310. Hypervisor 302 may be used to emulate virtual hardware, partitionphysical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and/or execute virtualmachines that provide access to computing environments. In still otherembodiments, hypervisor 302 controls processor scheduling and memorypartitioning for a virtual machine 332 executing on virtualizationserver 301. Hypervisor 302 may include those manufactured by VMWare,Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.; the XEN hypervisor, an open source productwhose development is overseen by the open source Xen.org community;HyperV, VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided by Microsoft,or others. In some embodiments, virtualization server 301 executes ahypervisor 302 that creates a virtual machine platform on which guestoperating systems may execute. In these embodiments, the virtualizationserver 301 may be referred to as a host server. An example of such avirtualization server is the XEN SERVER provided by Citrix Systems,Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hypervisor 302 may create one or more virtual machines 332B-C (generally332) in which guest operating systems 330 execute. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 may load a virtual machine image to create a virtualmachine 332. In other embodiments, the hypervisor 302 may executes aguest operating system 330 within virtual machine 332. In still otherembodiments, virtual machine 332 may execute guest operating system 330.

In addition to creating virtual machines 332, hypervisor 302 may controlthe execution of at least one virtual machine 332. In other embodiments,hypervisor 302 may presents at least one virtual machine 332 with anabstraction of at least one hardware resource provided by thevirtualization server 301 (e.g., any hardware resource available withinthe hardware layer 310). In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 maycontrol the manner in which virtual machines 332 access physicalprocessors 308 available in virtualization server 301. Controllingaccess to physical processors 308 may include determining whether avirtual machine 332 should have access to a processor 308, and howphysical processor capabilities are presented to the virtual machine332.

As shown in FIG. 3, virtualization server 301 may host or execute one ormore virtual machines 332. A virtual machine 332 is a set of executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor 308, imitate theoperation of a physical computer such that the virtual machine 332 canexecute programs and processes much like a physical computing device.While FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where a virtualization server 301hosts three virtual machines 332, in other embodiments virtualizationserver 301 can host any number of virtual machines 332. Hypervisor 302,in some embodiments, provides each virtual machine 332 with a uniquevirtual view of the physical hardware, memory, processor and othersystem resources available to that virtual machine 332. In someembodiments, the unique virtual view can be based on one or more ofvirtual machine permissions, application of a policy engine to one ormore virtual machine identifiers, a user accessing a virtual machine,the applications executing on a virtual machine, networks accessed by avirtual machine, or any other desired criteria. For instance, hypervisor302 may create one or more unsecure virtual machines 332 and one or moresecure virtual machines 332. Unsecure virtual machines 332 may beprevented from accessing resources, hardware, memory locations, andprograms that secure virtual machines 332 may be permitted to access. Inother embodiments, hypervisor 302 may provide each virtual machine 332with a substantially similar virtual view of the physical hardware,memory, processor and other system resources available to the virtualmachines 332.

Each virtual machine 332 may include a virtual disk 326A-C (generally326) and a virtual processor 328A-C (generally 328.) The virtual disk326, in some embodiments, is a virtualized view of one or more physicaldisks 304 of the virtualization server 301, or a portion of one or morephysical disks 304 of the virtualization server 301. The virtualizedview of the physical disks 304 can be generated, provided and managed bythe hypervisor 302. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 provides eachvirtual machine 332 with a unique view of the physical disks 304. Thus,in these embodiments, the particular virtual disk 326 included in eachvirtual machine 332 can be unique when compared with the other virtualdisks 326.

A virtual processor 328 can be a virtualized view of one or morephysical processors 308 of the virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, the virtualized view of the physical processors 308 can begenerated, provided and managed by hypervisor 302. In some embodiments,virtual processor 328 has substantially all of the same characteristicsof at least one physical processor 308. In other embodiments, virtualprocessor 308 provides a modified view of physical processors 308 suchthat at least some of the characteristics of the virtual processor 328are different than the characteristics of the corresponding physicalprocessor 308.

With further reference to FIG. 4, some aspects described herein may beimplemented in a cloud-based environment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleof a cloud computing environment (or cloud system) 400. As seen in FIG.4, client computers 411-414 may communicate with a cloud managementserver 410 to access the computing resources (e.g., host servers 403,storage resources 404, and network resources 405) of the cloud system.

Management server 410 may be implemented on one or more physicalservers. The management server 410 may run, for example, CLOUDSTACK byCitrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., or OPENSTACK, amongothers. Management server 410 may manage various computing resources,including cloud hardware and software resources, for example, hostcomputers 403, data storage devices 404, and networking devices 405. Thecloud hardware and software resources may include private and/or publiccomponents. For example, a cloud may be configured as a private cloud tobe used by one or more particular customers or client computers 411-414and/or over a private network. In other embodiments, public clouds orhybrid public-private clouds may be used by other customers over an openor hybrid networks.

Management server 410 may be configured to provide user interfacesthrough which cloud operators and cloud customers may interact with thecloud system. For example, the management server 410 may provide a setof APIs and/or one or more cloud operator console applications (e.g.,web-based on standalone applications) with user interfaces to allowcloud operators to manage the cloud resources, configure thevirtualization layer, manage customer accounts, and perform other cloudadministration tasks. The management server 410 also may include a setof APIs and/or one or more customer console applications with userinterfaces configured to receive cloud computing requests from end usersvia client computers 411-414, for example, requests to create, modify,or destroy virtual machines within the cloud. Client computers 411-414may connect to management server 410 via the Internet or othercommunication network, and may request access to one or more of thecomputing resources managed by management server 410. In response toclient requests, the management server 410 may include a resourcemanager configured to select and provision physical resources in thehardware layer of the cloud system based on the client requests. Forexample, the management server 410 and additional components of thecloud system may be configured to provision, create, and manage virtualmachines and their operating environments (e.g., hypervisors, storageresources, services offered by the network elements, etc.) for customersat client computers 411-414, over a network (e.g., the Internet),providing customers with computational resources, data storage services,networking capabilities, and computer platform and application support.Cloud systems also may be configured to provide various specificservices, including security systems, development environments, userinterfaces, and the like.

Certain clients 411-414 may be related, for example, different clientcomputers creating virtual machines on behalf of the same end user, ordifferent users affiliated with the same company or organization. Inother examples, certain clients 411-414 may be unrelated, such as usersaffiliated with different companies or organizations. For unrelatedclients, information on the virtual machines or storage of any one usermay be hidden from other users.

Referring now to the physical hardware layer of a cloud computingenvironment, availability zones 401-402 (or zones) may refer to acollocated set of physical computing resources. Zones may begeographically separated from other zones in the overall cloud ofcomputing resources. For example, zone 401 may be a first clouddatacenter located in California, and zone 402 may be a second clouddatacenter located in Florida. Management sever 410 may be located atone of the availability zones, or at a separate location. Each zone mayinclude an internal network that interfaces with devices that areoutside of the zone, such as the management server 410, through agateway. End users of the cloud (e.g., clients 411-414) might or mightnot be aware of the distinctions between zones. For example, an end usermay request the creation of a virtual machine having a specified amountof memory, processing power, and network capabilities. The managementserver 410 may respond to the user's request and may allocate theresources to create the virtual machine without the user knowing whetherthe virtual machine was created using resources from zone 401 or zone402. In other examples, the cloud system may allow end users to requestthat virtual machines (or other cloud resources) are allocated in aspecific zone or on specific resources 403-405 within a zone.

In this example, each zone 401-402 may include an arrangement of variousphysical hardware components (or computing resources) 403-405, forexample, physical hosting resources (or processing resources), physicalnetwork resources, physical storage resources, switches, and additionalhardware resources that may be used to provide cloud computing servicesto customers. The physical hosting resources in a cloud zone 401-402 mayinclude one or more computer servers 403, such as the virtualizationservers 301 described above, which may be configured to create and hostvirtual machine instances. The physical network resources in a cloudzone 401 or 402 may include one or more network elements 405 (e.g.,network service providers) comprising hardware and/or softwareconfigured to provide a network service to cloud customers, such asfirewalls, network address translators, load balancers, virtual privatenetwork (VPN) gateways, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)routers, and the like. The storage resources in the cloud zone 401-402may include storage disks (e.g., solid state drives (SSDs), magnetichard disks, etc.) and other storage devices.

The example cloud computing environment shown in FIG. 4 also may includea virtualization layer (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-3) with additionalhardware and/or software resources configured to create and managevirtual machines and provide other services to customers using thephysical resources in the cloud. The virtualization layer may includehypervisors, as described above in FIG. 3, along with other componentsto provide network virtualizations, storage virtualizations, etc. Thevirtualization layer may be as a separate layer from the physicalresource layer, or may share some or all of the same hardware and/orsoftware resources with the physical resource layer. For example, thevirtualization layer may include a hypervisor installed in each of thevirtualization servers 403 with the physical computing resources. Knowncloud systems may alternatively be used, e.g., WINDOWS AZURE (MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond Wash.), AMAZON EC2 (Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle,Wash.), IBM BLUE CLOUD (IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.), or others.

Enterprise Mobility Management Architecture

FIG. 5 represents an enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 foruse in a BYOD environment. The architecture enables a user of a mobiledevice 502 to both access enterprise or personal resources from a mobiledevice 502 and use the mobile device 502 for personal use. The user mayaccess such enterprise resources 504 or enterprise services 508 using amobile device 502 that is purchased by the user or a mobile device 502that is provided by the enterprise to user. The user may utilize themobile device 502 for business use only or for business and personaluse. The mobile device may run an iOS operating system, and Androidoperating system, or the like. The enterprise may choose to implementpolicies to manage the mobile device 504. The policies may be implantedthrough a firewall or gateway in such a way that the mobile device maybe identified, secured or security verified, and provided selective orfull access to the enterprise resources. The policies may be mobiledevice management policies, mobile application management policies,mobile data management policies, or some combination of mobile device,application, and data management policies. A mobile device 504 that ismanaged through the application of mobile device management policies maybe referred to as an enrolled device.

The operating system of the mobile device may be separated into amanaged partition 510 and an unmanaged partition 512. The managedpartition 510 may have policies applied to it to secure the applicationsrunning on and data stored in the managed partition. The applicationsrunning on the managed partition may be secure applications. In otherembodiments, all applications may execute in accordance with a set ofone or more policy files received separate from the application, andwhich define one or more security parameters, features, resourcerestrictions, and/or other access controls that are enforced by themobile device management system when that application is executing onthe device. By operating in accordance with their respective policyfile(s), each application may be allowed or restricted fromcommunications with one or more other applications and/or resources,thereby creating a virtual partition. Thus, as used herein, a partitionmay refer to a physically partitioned portion of memory (physicalpartition), a logically partitioned portion of memory (logicalpartition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result ofenforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across multipleapps as described herein (virtual partition). Stated differently, byenforcing policies on managed apps, those apps may be restricted to onlybe able to communicate with other managed apps and trusted enterpriseresources, thereby creating a virtual partition that is impenetrable byunmanaged apps and devices.

The secure applications may be email applications, web browsingapplications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, WindowsApplication access applications, and the like. The secure applicationsmay be secure native applications 514, secure remote applications 522executed by a secure application launcher 518, virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518, and thelike. The secure native applications 514 may be wrapped by a secureapplication wrapper 520. The secure application wrapper 520 may includeintegrated policies that are executed on the mobile device 502 when thesecure native application is executed on the device. The secureapplication wrapper 520 may include meta-data that points the securenative application 514 running on the mobile device 502 to the resourceshosted at the enterprise that the secure native application 514 mayrequire to complete the task requested upon execution of the securenative application 514. The secure remote applications 522 executed by asecure application launcher 518 may be executed within the secureapplication launcher application 518. The virtualization applications526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 may utilize resourceson the mobile device 502, at the enterprise resources 504, and the like.The resources used on the mobile device 502 by the virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 mayinclude user interaction resources, processing resources, and the like.The user interaction resources may be used to collect and transmitkeyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input,visual input, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources maybe used to present a user interface, process data received from theenterprise resources 504, and the like. The resources used at theenterprise resources 504 by the virtualization applications 526 executedby a secure application launcher 518 may include user interfacegeneration resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinterface generation resources may be used to assemble a user interface,modify a user interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. Theprocessing resources may be used to create information, readinformation, update information, delete information, and the like. Forexample, the virtualization application may record user interactionsassociated with a GUI and communicate them to a server application wherethe server application will use the user interaction data as an input tothe application operating on the server. In this arrangement, anenterprise may elect to maintain the application on the server side aswell as data, files, etc. associated with the application. While anenterprise may elect to “mobilize” some applications in accordance withthe principles herein by securing them for deployment on the mobiledevice, this arrangement may also be elected for certain applications.For example, while some applications may be secured for use on themobile device, others might not be prepared or appropriate fordeployment on the mobile device so the enterprise may elect to providethe mobile user access to the unprepared applications throughvirtualization techniques. As another example, the enterprise may havelarge complex applications with large and complex data sets (e.g.,material resource planning applications) where it would be verydifficult, or otherwise undesirable, to customize the application forthe mobile device so the enterprise may elect to provide access to theapplication through virtualization techniques. As yet another example,the enterprise may have an application that maintains highly secureddata (e.g. human resources data, customer data, engineering data) thatmay be deemed by the enterprise as too sensitive for even the securedmobile environment so the enterprise may elect to use virtualizationtechniques to permit mobile access to such applications and data. Anenterprise may elect to provide both fully secured and fully functionalapplications on the mobile device as well as a virtualizationapplication to allow access to applications that are deemed moreproperly operated on the server side. In an embodiment, thevirtualization application may store some data, files, etc. on themobile phone in one of the secure storage locations. An enterprise, forexample, may elect to allow certain information to be stored on thephone while not permitting other information.

In connection with the virtualization application, as described herein,the mobile device may have a virtualization application that is designedto present GUI's and then record user interactions with the GUI. Theapplication may communicate the user interactions to the server side tobe used by the server side application as user interactions with theapplication. In response, the application on the server side maytransmit back to the mobile device a new GUI. For example, the new GUImay be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation, or the like, therebyproviding access to remotely located resources.

The applications running on the managed partition may be stabilizedapplications. The stabilized applications may be managed by a devicemanager 524. The device manager 524 may monitor the stabilizedapplications and utilize techniques for detecting and remedying problemsthat would result in a destabilized application if such techniques werenot utilized to detect and remedy the problems.

The secure applications may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 528 in the managed partition 510 of the mobile device. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securewrapped applications 514, applications executed by a secure applicationlauncher 522, virtualization applications 526 executed by a secureapplication launcher 522, and the like. The data stored in the securedata container 528 may include files, databases, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 528 may include data restricted to aspecific secure application 530, shared among secure applications 532,and the like. Data restricted to a secure application may include securegeneral data 534 and highly secure data 538. Secure general data may usea strong form of encryption such as AES 128-bit encryption or the like,while highly secure data 538 may use a very strong form of encryptionsuch as AES 256-bit encryption. Data stored in the secure data container528 may be deleted from the device upon receipt of a command from thedevice manager 524. The secure applications may have a dual-mode option540. The dual mode option 540 may present the user with an option tooperate the secured application in an unsecured or unmanaged mode. In anunsecured or unmanaged mode, the secure applications may access datastored in an unsecured data container 542 on the unmanaged partition 512of the mobile device 502. The data stored in an unsecured data containermay be personal data 544. The data stored in an unsecured data container542 may also be accessed by unsecured applications 548 that are runningon the unmanaged partition 512 of the mobile device 502. The data storedin an unsecured data container 542 may remain on the mobile device 502when the data stored in the secure data container 528 is deleted fromthe mobile device 502. An enterprise may want to delete from the mobiledevice selected or all data, files, and/or applications owned, licensedor controlled by the enterprise (enterprise data) while leaving orotherwise preserving personal data, files, and/or applications owned,licensed or controlled by the user (personal data). This operation maybe referred to as a selective wipe. With the enterprise and personaldata arranged in accordance to the aspects described herein, anenterprise may perform a selective wipe.

The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 548, and the like.The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 through virtual private network connections such as, forexample, a microVPN or application-specific VPN. The virtual privatenetwork connections may be specific to particular applications 550,particular devices, particular secured areas on the mobile device, andthe like 552. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the phone may access enterprise resources through anapplication specific VPN such that access to the VPN would be grantedbased on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HTTP traffic, HTTPS traffic,application management traffic, and the like. The virtual privatenetwork connections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 554. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 558. The authentication service 558 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 504, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 504.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 560. The access gateway 560 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 504 to the mobile device 502. The access gatewaymay also re-route traffic from the mobile device 502 to the publicInternet 548, enabling the mobile device 502 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet548. The mobile device may connect to the access gateway via a transportnetwork 562. The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wirelessnetwork, cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network,wide area network, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 504 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS applications, Web application servers, Windows applicationservers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchange servers, LotusNotes servers, and the like. File sharing servers may include ShareFileservers, and the like. SaaS applications may include Salesforce, and thelike. Windows application servers may include any application serverthat is built to provide applications that are intended to run on alocal Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources504 may be premise-based resources, cloud based resources, and the like.The enterprise resources 504 may be accessed by the mobile device 502directly or through the access gateway 560. The enterprise resources 504may be accessed by the mobile device 502 via a transport network 562.The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wireless network,cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network, wide areanetwork, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise services 508 may include authentication services 558,threat detection services 564, device manager services 524, file sharingservices 568, policy manager services 570, social integration services572, application controller services 574, and the like. Authenticationservices 558 may include user authentication services, deviceauthentication services, application authentication services, dataauthentication services and the like. Authentication services 558 mayuse certificates. The certificates may be stored on the mobile device502, by the enterprise resources 504, and the like. The certificatesstored on the mobile device 502 may be stored in an encrypted locationon the mobile device, the certificate may be temporarily stored on themobile device 502 for use at the time of authentication, and the like.Threat detection services 564 may include intrusion detection services,unauthorized access attempt detection services, and the like.Unauthorized access attempt detection services may include unauthorizedattempts to access devices, applications, data, and the like. Devicemanagement services 524 may include configuration, provisioning,security, support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services.File sharing services 568 may include file management services, filestorage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policymanager services 570 may include device policy manager services,application policy manager services, data policy manager services, andthe like. Social integration services 572 may include contactintegration services, collaboration services, integration with socialnetworks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the like.Application controller services 574 may include management services,provisioning services, deployment services, assignment services,revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include anapplication store 578. The application store 578 may include unwrappedapplications 580, pre-wrapped applications 582, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 578 from theapplication controller 574. The application store 578 may be accessed bythe mobile device 502 through the access gateway 560, through the publicInternet 548, or the like. The application store may be provided with anintuitive and easy to use User Interface.

A software development kit 584 may provide a user the capability tosecure applications selected by the user by wrapping the application asdescribed previously in this description. An application that has beenwrapped using the software development kit 584 may then be madeavailable to the mobile device 502 by populating it in the applicationstore 578 using the application controller 574.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include amanagement and analytics capability 588. The management and analyticscapability 588 may provide information related to how resources areused, how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 6 is another illustrative enterprise mobility management system600. Some of the components of the mobility management system 500described above with reference to FIG. 5 have been omitted for the sakeof simplicity. The architecture of the system 600 depicted in FIG. 6 issimilar in many respects to the architecture of the system 500 describedabove with reference to FIG. 5 and may include additional features notmentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled mobile device602 with a client agent 604, which interacts with gateway server 606(which includes access gateway and application controller functionality)to access various enterprise resources 608 and services 609 such asExchange, Sharepoint, PKI Resources, Kerberos Resources, CertificateIssuance service, as shown on the right hand side above. Although notspecifically shown, the mobile device 602 may also interact with anenterprise application store (StoreFront) for the selection anddownloading of applications.

The client agent 604 acts as the UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the HDX/ICA display remoting protocol. The client agent604 also supports the installation and management of native applicationson the mobile device 602, such as native iOS or Android applications.For example, the managed applications 610 (mail, browser, wrappedapplication, secure container to which a VPN, such as anapplication-specific policy-controlled VPN can connect to) shown in thefigure above are all native applications that execute locally on thedevice. Client agent 604 and application management framework of thisarchitecture act to provide policy driven management capabilities andfeatures such as connectivity and SSO (single sign on) to enterpriseresources/services 608. The client agent 604 handles primary userauthentication to the enterprise, normally to access gateway (AG) withSSO to other gateway server components. The client agent 604 obtainspolicies from gateway server 606 to control the behavior of the managedapplications 610 on the mobile device 602.

The Secure IPC links 612 between the native applications 610 and clientagent 604 represent a management channel, which allows client agent tosupply policies to be enforced by the application management framework614 “wrapping” each application. The IPC channel 612 also allows clientagent 604 to supply credential and authentication information thatenables connectivity and SSO to enterprise resources 608. Finally theIPC channel 612 allows the application management framework 614 toinvoke user interface functions implemented by client agent 604, such asonline and offline authentication.

Communications between the client agent 604 and gateway server 606 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the applicationmanagement framework 614 wrapping each native managed application 610.The application management framework 614 requests policy informationfrom client agent 604, which in turn requests it from gateway server606. The application management framework 614 requests authentication,and client agent 604 logs into the gateway services part of gatewayserver 606 (e.g., NetScaler access gateway). Client agent 604 may alsocall supporting services on gateway server 606, which may produce inputmaterial to derive encryption keys for the local data vaults 616, orprovide client certificates which may enable direct authentication toPKI protected resources, as more fully explained below.

In more detail, the application management framework 614 “wraps” eachmanaged application 610. This may be incorporated via an explicit buildstep, or via a post-build processing step. The application managementframework 614 may “pair” with client agent 604 on first launch of anapplication 610 to initialize the Secure IPC channel and obtain thepolicy for that application. The application management framework 614may enforce relevant portions of the policy that apply locally, such asthe client agent login dependencies and some of the containment policiesthat restrict how local OS services may be used, or how they mayinteract with the application 610.

The application management framework 614 may use services provided byclient agent 604 over the Secure IPC channel 612 to facilitateauthentication and internal network access. Key management for theprivate and shared data vaults 616 (containers) may be also managed byappropriate interactions between the managed applications 610 and clientagent 604. Vaults 616 may be available only after online authentication,or may be made available after offline authentication if allowed bypolicy. First use of vaults 616 may require online authentication, andoffline access may be limited to at most the policy refresh periodbefore online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 610 through access gateway 606. The applicationmanagement framework 614 is responsible for orchestrating the networkaccess on behalf of each application 610. Client agent 604 mayfacilitate these network connections by providing suitable time limitedsecondary credentials obtained following online authentication. Multiplemodes of network connection may be used, such as reverse web proxyconnections and end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 618.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 610 have special status andmay make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application mayuse a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess Exchange over an extended period of time without requiring a fullAG logon. The Browser application may use multiple private data vaultsto segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture supports the incorporation of various other securityfeatures. For example, gateway server 606 (including its gatewayservices) in some cases will not need to validate AD passwords. It canbe left to the discretion of an enterprise whether an AD password isused as an authentication factor for some users in some situations.Different authentication methods may be used if a user is online oroffline (i.e., connected or not connected to a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server 606 mayidentify managed native applications 610 that are allowed to have accessto highly classified data requiring strong authentication, and ensurethat access to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequired by the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 616 (containers) on the mobile device 602. The vaults 616 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including files, databases, andconfigurations are protected. For on-line vaults, the keys may be storedon the server (gateway server 606), and for off-line vaults, a localcopy of the keys may be protected by a user password or biometricvalidation. When data is stored locally on the device 602 in the securecontainer 616, it is preferred that a minimum of AES 256 encryptionalgorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein all security events happeninginside an application 610 are logged and reported to the backend. Datawiping may be supported, such as if the application 610 detectstampering, associated encryption keys may be written over with randomdata, leaving no hint on the file system that user data was destroyed.Screenshot protection is another feature, where an application mayprevent any data from being stored in screenshots. For example, the keywindow's hidden property may be set to YES. This may cause whatevercontent is currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting ina blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device isgenerated using a passphrase supplied by the user (if offline access isrequired). It may be XORed with another key randomly generated andstored on the server side if offline access is not required. KeyDerivation functions may operate such that keys generated from the userpassword (or biometric factors) use KDFs (key derivation functions,notably PBKDF2) rather than creating a cryptographic hash of it. Thelatter makes a key susceptible to brute force or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector will cause multiple copies of the sameencrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventing bothreplay and cryptanalytic attacks. This will also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key if thespecific initialization vector used to encrypt the data is not known.Further, authentication then decryption may be used, wherein applicationdata is decrypted only after the user has authenticated within theapplication. Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory,which may be kept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. Forexample, login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, andencryption keys and other data inside objective-C instance variables arenot stored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented, wherein after a policy-definedperiod of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the application management framework 614 may beprevented in other ways. For example, when an application 610 is put inthe background, the memory may be cleared after a predetermined(configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a snapshot may be takenof the last displayed screen of the application to fasten theforegrounding process. The screenshot may contain confidential data andhence should be cleared.

Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 620 without the use of an AD (active directory) 622 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 620 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text is sent to the user with an OTP 620. In some cases, thismay be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being a singlefield.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose applications 610 for which offline use is permitted via enterprisepolicy. For example, an enterprise may want an enterprise application tobe accessed in this manner. In this case, the client agent 604 mayrequire the user to set a custom offline password and the AD password isnot used. Gateway server 606 may provide policies to control and enforcepassword standards with respect to the minimum length, character classcomposition, and age of passwords, such as described by the standardWindows Server password complexity requirements, although theserequirements may be modified.

Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side certificatefor certain applications 610 as secondary credentials (for the purposeof accessing PKI protected web resources via the application managementframework micro VPN feature). For example, an application may utilizesuch a certificate. In this case, certificate-based authentication usingActiveSync protocol may be supported, wherein a certificate from theclient agent 604 may be retrieved by gateway server 606 and used in akeychain. Each managed application may have one associated clientcertificate, identified by a label that is defined in gateway server606.

Gateway server 606 may interact with an Enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The client agent 604 and the application management framework 614 may beenhanced to support obtaining and using client certificates forauthentication to internal PKI protected network resources. More thanone certificate may be supported, such as to match various levels ofsecurity and/or separation requirements. The certificates may be used bythe Mail and Browser managed applications, and ultimately by arbitrarywrapped applications (provided those applications use web service stylecommunication patterns where it is reasonable for the applicationmanagement framework to mediate https requests).

Application management client certificate support on iOS may rely onimporting a PKCS 12 BLOB (Binary Large Object) into the iOS keychain ineach managed application for each period of use. Application managementframework client certificate support may use a HTTPS implementation withprivate in-memory key storage. The client certificate will never bepresent in the iOS keychain and will not be persisted except potentiallyin “online-only” data value that is strongly protected.

Mutual SSL may also be implemented to provide additional security byrequiring that a mobile device 602 is authenticated to the enterprise,and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication to gateway server606 may also be implemented.

Both limited and full Kerberos support may be additional features. Thefull support feature relates to an ability to do full Kerberos login toActive Directory (AD) 622, using an AD password or trusted clientcertificate, and obtain Kerberos service tickets to respond to HTTPNegotiate authentication challenges. The limited support feature relatesto constrained delegation in AFEE, where AFEE supports invoking Kerberosprotocol transition so it can obtain and use Kerberos service tickets(subject to constrained delegation) in response to HTTP Negotiateauthentication challenges. This mechanism works in reverse web proxy(aka CVPN) mode, and when http (but not https) connections are proxiedin VPN and MicroVPN mode.

Another feature relates to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when an application 610 is not running.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of an enterprise applicationand application controller may be supported that allows users to beservice from one of several different locations in case of failure.

In some cases, managed applications 610 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 610 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as when an application behaves like a browser and nocertificate access is required, when an application reads a certificatefor “who am I,” when an application uses the certificate to build asecure session token, and when an application uses private keys fordigital signing of important data (e.g. transaction log) or fortemporary data encryption.

Illustrative Embodiment(s)

Many mobile resource management (MRM) solutions (also referred to hereinas EMM, MDM and MAM, each of which may include MRM) may face thechallenge of managing applications on an otherwise unmanaged mobiledevices and ensuring that information used by the managed applicationcannot escape from the set of trusted enterprise applications that ITadministrators make available to their enterprise users. Information canescape in any number of ways, and a robust EMM system will providepolicies and enforcement mechanisms to prevent such information leakagewhere IT administrators deem it proper and to provide policy overrides,where appropriate. However, even with a robust set of informationcontainment policies, there are other threats to the security of theinformation managed by applications on mobile devices.

One such threat is that applications may store some informationpersistently on the mobile device by writing files or other data intothe flash memory or other persistent storage on the device. Most mobileplatforms will segregate persistent data recorded by applications intoprivate application sandboxes. However this sandboxing can be defeatedwith common tools capable of rooting or jail-breaking the device.Rooting and jail-breaking are techniques that seek to replace parts ofthe mobile device operating system platform often with goal of defeatingapp sandboxing, application integrity checks, and other OS providedsecurity mechanisms. Rootkits and jail-breaking software for mostpopular mobile platforms are readily available on the public Internetand easy to use. Since rooting and jail-breaking are so easy toaccomplish, most enterprises do not wish to rely on mobile device OSenforced sandbox as the only means of protecting data that anapplication may need to persist.

Some mobile device platforms additionally allow information to beencrypted in its persistent form and some applications do take advantageof these features. Invariably, such encryption mechanisms rely on theencryption keys being held on the device itself with the keys themselvesprotected by a user supplied PIN or passcode. The fact that the keys areheld on the device and protected by weak cryptographic factors meansthat the data is not particularly well protected from hacking,particularly if a device is stolen and hacker has ample time to try tounlock the keys. Also, since the keys are in possession of the deviceholder, an enterprise is powerless to remove them or revoke access for aterminated employee unless they can recover the device.

Another issue with app sandboxing that occurs on mobile platforms isthat it is problematic to have a single repository of documents that areavailable to all managed applications on the mobile device andpotentially synced offline to cloud based storage. Mobile applicationswork around the sandbox limits in various ways, all of which havedrawbacks. Often, they will exchange files of certain fixed types withother applications that have registered to accept certain those sametypes. The drawback here is that one ends up with multiple copies of aparticular file in each app's sandbox. If one or more apps wish to editthe file content, keeping track of which app has latest versions isproblematic for users.

One can overcome the issue highlighted above if users are trained toalways send their modified documents back to a common sync agentapplication which might also be charged with syncing documents to/fromcloud based storage. The Citrix Sharefile mobile application is anexample of an application that permits this sort of data exchange withcloud-based sync. The drawback here is that these extra steps are easyto forget. Also, they are not required when using equivalent desktopapplications that operate on the notion of shared documents folders forall applications. These two facts can lead to data file consistencyissues and poor user experience if users are not properly trained.

Another approach to this problem is to save the files that one wishes toshare into shared storage on those mobile platforms that support thisconcept. This has the downside that shared storage is world readable andtherefore shared with all applications. Once information is placed intoshared storage, containment of the information is lost since anyapplication on mobile device can read it. Also the data can trivially beaccessed by anyone who gains physical access to the device usingstandard file viewers and development tools.

The challenges of information containment and sharing of documentsbetween trusted applications that are highlighted above are overcome byintroducing the concept of an encrypted data vault. As illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6, various embodiments described herein provide an encrypteddata vault (also referred variously herein as a secure container,container, data vault, vault or private data vault) for use with, forexample, one or more managed applications of a mobile device. Anencrypted data vault can be considered a logical interface into whichany or all persistent data read/written by a mobile application (whichwould otherwise end up in a writeable file in the app sandbox) will beredirected. The contents of the vault may themselves be written intofile(s) held inside an app sandbox. The contents of all files and thefile metadata itself (name, size, access times, etc.) may be allencrypted.

Referring back to FIG. 6 (various components described below can also befound in the diagram of FIG. 5), which shows an illustrative environmentin which embodiments hereof can be practiced, a mobile device 602, suchas a smartphone, tablet, PDA, and the like, has installed upon itvarious applications. The applications include a set of managedapplications 610, which are managed by enterprise mobility managementsystem 600, such as an enterprise application. Mobile device 602 mayalso include one or more unmanaged applications (e.g., applicationsstored in unmanaged partition 512 of FIG. 5, or applications running inan unmanaged mode of operation), such as a personal application, whichis not managed by the enterprise. In some examples, client agentsoftware 604 is also installed on the mobile device 602. The clientagent software 604, also referred to herein as a “client agent” or“enterprise mobility management (EMM) client,” is configured to connect,e.g., via a network such as the Internet, with an a gateway server oraccess gateway, which typically provides access to enterprise resources(e.g., cloud resources) or servers, which may include an authenticationserver, an application store, and a key server.

The illustrated mobile device 602 may include a shared data vault. Theshared data vault may include encrypted files and/or data objectsaccessible to each of the managed applications 610.

In some examples, each managed application may also be associated with arespective private data vault. Encryption keys for the privateapplication vaults, as well as an encryption key for the shared vaultmay be obtained, via the access gateway, such as from a key server orthe access gateway itself, and can be held temporarily within the mobiledevice.

Strong encryption algorithms (e.g. FIPS 140-2 certified) may be used toprotect information placed into the vault with keys that are managed bythe enterprise rather than the users themselves. Keys may be assignedbased on a tuple of user, device, and application or app group. Thatimplies that distinct key sets are used each unique combination of user,device, and application/app group. The keys may be maintained off devicein an enterprise key management server. The keys may be downloadedtemporarily to the mobile device to enable data access, but only afterauthenticating the user, device, and application in question. If this isthe first access to the protected files in a long time, the user may beforced to authenticate by logging on to an access gateway. Periodicallythese keys will need to be refreshed as dictated by the time to livepolicy setting for the keys. When refreshing, as long as user hasmaintains an active logon with the access gateway, this refreshing ofkeys can occur without user interaction. If user logs off or their logonsession expires, then the refreshing of keys will need to be stronglyauthenticated again. These aspects, and others, will be discussed inconnection with FIG. 11.

To support random access to any range of bytes within encrypted data, ascheme that uses encrypted blocks is may be used. The keys used toencrypt/decrypt each of the blocks may be derived mathematically frombase keys and the file/block offset. Similarly, different files may useinitialization vectors for the cryptography as well.

For efficiency, the system may read ahead or delay writing of data to adata vault as necessary to optimize application performance. Delayedwrite of encrypted data should in most instances be flushed prior toclosing files or exiting the application.

An application may be written in such a way that it is aware of thepresence of the vaults. Applications written with this awareness canutilize any number of data vaults, which they can identify explicitlywith vault name identifiers or resource names. However applications willnot always be written with such awareness. Correspondingly, the policiescan be used to configure a default data vault for each application. Thedefault data vault of an application is used for the transparentredirection of all application file I/O that would otherwise end up in awritable portion of the application sandbox or shared storage.

Each managed application may be associated with a respective policy(e.g., provided by the enterprise via the gateway server or accessgateway). In some examples, the policies may be provided in the form offiles, such as XML or JSON files, in which the respective policy isexpressed as a set of key/value pairs. A policy may designate anencrypted data vault for data being processed in connection with therespective application such as, for example, data specified by read andwrite operations from the application. Accordingly, read and writeoperations to/from the application may be processed in accordance withthe respective policy.

Depending on settings or definitions specified by the policies, managedapplications can be constrained to exchange files and/or data only withother applications within the set of managed application 610. Forexample, API calls from the application specifying file reads or writescan be intercepted by injected code of the application or the “wrapping”of the application. The policy for that application may be read, and theread or write operation specified is diverted to an encrypted vault(e.g., the private vault or the shared vault), depending on the settingsin the policy (or the absence of settings in the policy).

In various embodiments, code injected into the application or code“wrapping” the application may intercept API calls made by anapplication. Based on the intercepted API call, the policy for theapplication may be consulted, and the API call may be blocked, allowed,redirected further based on the policy. Such a process can be appliedfor selecting an application that can be used to open a file or dataelement identified by a link or icon (e.g., using Open In). In anotherexample, the above process can be applied for copying data or dataobjects from one application and pasting the data or data objects inanother application (e.g., via a hidden, encrypted paste buffer). In yetanother example, the above process can be applied for moving files intoand/or out of a protected data vault, as described herein. Essentially,any operation used to move data into and/or out of an application canmake use of the above technique.

In some examples, managed applications can be assigned to differentgroups. In such cases, policies may include records of groups and groupmembers. The flow of files and/or data between applications can thus befurther restricted to members of particular groups. For example, eachgroup may be provided with its own shared vault. Providing differentgroups of mobile applications within the set of managed applications 610can help to segregate applications handling highly sensitive data fromthose that handle less sensitive data.

Applications may be assigned to a default vault as dictated by policy.In some variations, applications that share the same group may inheritthe same default data vault. In this manner, applications not only gainthe security of the encrypted container for their data, but appsconfigured with the same default data vault will see a single consistentview of their data shared with other similarly configured fileapplications.

In some instances, if policy does not dictate that an application isconfigured into a shared group or dictate a default vault for theapplication, then all data may be redirected to the application'scorresponding private vault (private vaults as illustrated in FIG. 6).However if an application were configured into a shared group, data maybe redirected to the shared vault. Even when some data is redirected tothe shared vault, Particular data types, such as data designated forspecial private directories like /tmp, would continue to flow to theapplication's private vault.

In embodiments with, for example, a shared data vault, a common agentmay manage the shared data on behalf of all applications. Without suchan agent, it may be more difficult to share data among the applicationstransparently. While some embodiments may implement such an agent as anetwork-attached service that does not exist on the mobile deviceitself, such embodiments may preclude offline access to the encrypteddata vault. Other embodiments may implement the agent as anotherapplication installed on the mobile device (a “client agent”). There arecertainly other possible designs for implementing shared vaults. Forexample, one can use shared storage coupled with inter-processsynchronization mechanisms to coordinate access.

Enterprises may create (or adapt) their native mobile applications usingtools and SDKs associated with the enterprise mobility managementsolution they have chosen to deploy. In preparing their app fordeployment, they certainly have the freedom to (re)write specificapplication logic to utilize encrypted data vault services exposed bythe SDK as needed for their application.

However, in some embodiments, an application may be used with standardfile system APIs of the platform for which the applications wereoriginally developed. As such, the application's file access servicesmay be redirected to one or more data vaults dictated by policy ratherthan rewriting their application. This approach also allows anadministrator to reconfigure targeted vaults without directly modifyingand recompiling the application. Such embodiments will be discussedfurther in connection with FIG. 7.

When taking the policy-driven approach, the application developer neednot worry about the specifics of how to interface with the private vaultservices. Instead, by integrating the header files, libraries, andrun-time support of the framework code with the application, all filesystem APIs called by the application may be intercepted by apolicy-aware interception layer that, in some embodiments, forms a partof the managed application. For example, the policy-aware interceptionlayer may be formed by framework or wrapper code that is included in theapplication. Logically, the policy-aware interception layer may belocated between the application and the operating system services. Afterthe policy-aware interception layer performs the interception, theintercepted API call may, in some variations, be redirected to theclient agent or perform processing on the API call at the interceptionlayer (e.g., encrypt/decrypt the API call, etc.).

Assuming the data vault feature is configured, then based on thepolicies in force for the current user, device, and application, a setof default vaults will be selected and the file system API interceptionlayer will be configured to target them. Using a policy-driven approachmay permit multiple applications to be bound to the same default vaultsand may further permit secure sharing of data between properlyconfigured managed applications. Some of these aspects, among others,will be discussed below in connection with FIG. 10.

After preparing the application, the managed application may be uploadedto a server for the purpose of publishing the application for theenterprise users to consume, such as via an application store. As partof this application publishing workflow, an IT administrator will choosepolicies and settings that apply to the application and associated userroles. Once uploaded and configured, the applications may be madeavailable to organization's employees to peruse and install based ontheir role within the organization. Alternatively, such applications canbe pushed directly to mobile devices for employees who have enrolledtheir device with a corporate MDM server. Some of these aspects, amongothers, will be discussed below in connection with FIG. 12.

When a user executes a managed application on the mobile device, theuser is typically challenged to authenticate their corporate identityalong with passwords and other factors as dictated by corporate policy.After having strongly authenticated the user, device, and application,the access manager components of the system may verify that the user isentitled to the application and download the configured policies and/orencryption and decryption keys for this specific application and user.Some of these aspects, among others, will be discussed below inconnection with FIG. 11.

Based on those policies, the application management framework that isdelivered with the managed application may configure itself (e.g., withthe client agent's assistance). For example, one or more default vaultsmay be selected for use and the policy-aware interception layer may beconfigured to target the selected vaults. If a configured data vaultdoes not already exist, a new empty vault is initialized. This ensuresthat a change in data vault policies that would select anot-previously-used vault will appear to the application as if it hadbeen recently installed (e.g. empty writable directories). Some of theseaspects, among others, will be discussed below in connection with FIG.10.

As the application begins to utilize the file system APIs, thepolicy-aware interception layer looks for file accesses that intersectthe writable portions of the app sandbox or shared storage. Such filesare flagged and tracked by the interception layer such that allsubsequent file I/O is passed through encryption/decryption before beingplaced into the real file container that holds the data.

When the data vault is private to the application, the data vaultservices layer may directly use the mobile platform's file I/O functionsto read and write encrypted version of the data. Also, all filedirectory access functions may be similarly intercepted such that thereal file names and sizes can be obscured.

When the data vault is to be shared with another application, the sameprocesses described above may be used and may occur in a common filesystem repository. For example, when the interception layer is operatingon a shared data vault, the data vault services may operate not bydirectly reading/writing encrypted data, but rather by redirected theseservices via a remote procedure call mechanism to the client agent.Within the client agent, the same local data vault services used forprivate vault files may be used for the shared vault content.

FIG. 7 illustrates various features of the mobile device 602 (and mobiledevice 502 of FIG. 5) in connection with the above discussion of datavaults. In particular, FIG. 7 illustrates an example diagram where aprivate data vault and shared data vault may be accessed. Here, theapplication 705 (representative of any of the applications of themanaged set 610 of FIG. 6 or any application 514 of FIG. 5) issues readoperations 708 and write operations 707 to persistent space on themobile device. Here, read and write operations are intercepted by thepolicy-aware interception layer 710 and directed to an appropriateencrypted vault. For read operations 708, the policy-aware interceptionlayer 710 may inspect the type of data to be read and consult the policy706 stored by the mobile device associated with the application 705. Ifthe policy 706 specifies that the identified type of data is stored inthe private data vault 715, the policy-aware interception layer 710 mayobtain the data from the private data vault 715. However, if the policy706 specifies that the identified type of data is stored in the shareddata vault 720, the policy-aware interception layer 710 may obtain thedata from the shared data vault 720. The policy-aware interception layer710 then may decrypt the data (using an encryption key, such as oneobtained via the access gateway) and return the data to the application705 (as illustrated by the arrow for read operations 708).

In the case of write operations 707, the policy-aware interception layer710 may inspect the type of data to be written and consult the policy706. If the policy 706 specifies that the identified type of data is tobe stored in the private data vault 715, the policy-aware interceptionlayer 710 may encrypt the data and store the data in the private datavault 715. However, if the policy 706 specifies that the identified typeof data is to be stored in the shared data vault 720, the policy-awareinterception layer 710 may encrypt the data and store the data in theshared data vault 720.

Different keys may be used for encrypting/decrypting data to/from theprivate data vault 715 and the shared data vault 720.

The data vault may also each comprise a file system provides for thelogical storage of the data in the data vault. As illustrated in FIG. 7,private data vault 715 has a file system 716 and shared data vault 720has file system 717. A data vault (or container) can comprise an accessmanager that governs access to the file system by applications and othercomponents of the mobile device. As illustrated in FIG. 7, private datavault 715 has access manager 718 and shared data vault 720 has accessmanager 719.

One or more policies can limit access to a container's file system basedon various settings or definitions such as, for example, (1) whichapplication or other component of the mobile device is requestingaccess, (2) the data being accessed/processed, (3) time or date, (4)geographical position of the mobile device, (5) whether the requestingapplication or other component provides a correct certificate orcredentials, (6) whether the user of the mobile device provides correctcredentials, (8) other conditions, or any combination thereof. A user'scredentials can comprise, for example, a password, one or more answersto security questions (e.g., What is the mascot of your high school?),biometric information (e.g., fingerprint scan, eye-scan, etc.), and thelike. Hence, by using the access manager, the container can beconfigured to be accessed only by applications that are authorized toaccess the container. As one example, the access manager can enablemanaged applications installed on the mobile device to access datastored in the container and to prevent unmanaged applications fromaccessing the data stored in the container.

Temporal and geographic restrictions on data access may be useful insome variations. For example, an enterprise administrator may deploy apolicy that restricts the availability of the data (stored within thecontainer) to a specified time window and/or a geographic zone (e.g., asdetermined by a GPS chip of the mobile device) within which the mobiledevice must be currently located in order to access the data. Further,the policy can instruct deletion of data from the container or otherwisemake them unavailable when the specified time period expires or if themobile device is taken outside of the defined geographic zone. Oneexample of deleting data from a container will be discussed below inconnection with FIG. 9.

Additionally, policies may forbid data from being saved within acontainer. In such embodiments, the document can be available forviewing on the mobile device only when the user is logged in to theenterprise system.

An access manager can also be configured to enforce certain modes ofconnectivity between remote devices (e.g., an enterprise resource orother enterprise server) and the container. For example, the accessmanager can require that data received from a remote device and/or sentfrom the container to the remote device be transmitted through tunnels,for example, as described above in connection with MicroVPN. Suchapplication tunnels can use the tunneling mediator of the enterprisesystem. The access manager can require that all data transmitted to andfrom the container be encrypted. The client agent, access manager, orother component, can be configured to encrypt documents sent from thecontainer and decrypt data sent to the container. Data in the containercan also be stored in an encrypted form.

The container can be configured to prevent data from being used byunauthorized applications or components of the mobile device or otherdevices. For instance, an application having authorization to accessdocuments from the container can be programmed to prevent a user fromcopying data and pasting it into another file or application interface,or locally saving the data as a new file outside of the container.Similarly, the container can be associated with a document viewer and/oreditor that does not permit such copy/paste and local save operations.Moreover, the access manager can be configured to prevent suchcopy/paste and local save operations. Further, the container andapplications authorized to access data from the container can beconfigured to prevent users from attaching such documents to emails orother forms of communication.

An application can be programmed to write enterprise-related data onlyinto the container. For instance, the application's source code can beprovided with the resource name of the container (e.g., via the clientagent and as specified by policy). Similarly, an enterprise resource canbe configured to send data only to one or more containers. Storing datato the container can occur automatically, for example, under control ofthe application, the client agent, or the like. An example of storingdata to a container will be discussed below in connection with FIG. 8.

In some variations, a managed application may include a container thatstores, for example, data used/generated by a remoted or virtualizedapplication. In such variations, for example, a secure connection (e.g.,a microVPN) may connect the container included in the managedapplication to one or more data sources (e.g., the source where theapplication is being remoted or virtualized), including sources locatedbehind an access gateway.

In further variations, the managed application may be a virtualizedapplication and the policy may specify a container that will store thedata used/generated by the virtualized application. Accordingly, as thevirtualized application generates data, the data is stored to thecontainer.

In some embodiments, a secure container can be located remotely from themobile device. In such embodiments, the policy may specify the locationof the remote container. Data that is meant to be stored in the securecontainer or read/write operations that are being redirected to thesecure container may be transferred to the remote container via a securecontainer, such as a microVPN tunnel or other type ofapplication-specific VPN tunnel.

In some embodiments, a container may be configured based on anindustry-specific policy, such as a policy for a healthcare industry ora finance industry. When configured by such policies, the data generatedby an application that is, for example, also assigned to the policy forthe healthcare industry can be saved to the container specified by thepolicy for the healthcare industry.

In some variations, the policy may specify multiple containers that canbe used by the application when needing to store data. For example, amanaged application may store to a first container when at a particulargeographic location (or other first criteria) but to a second containerwhen at a different geographic location (or other second, but different,criteria). As a particular example, a doctor may use a managedapplication to input patient data, but the doctor may perform work atdifferent hospitals. When at one hospital, the policy may be configuredso that the managed application used by the doctor stores to a firstcontainer, but when at a second hospital, the policy may be configuredso that the managed application used by the doctor stores to a secondcontainer. In this manner, if the doctor stops practicing at the firsthospital, a selective wipe of the first container may be performedwithout deleting or otherwise affecting the data stored by the secondcontainer. Further details as to performing a selective wipe will beperformed below in connection with FIG. 9.

Such private and shared data vaults can help prevent the spread ofenterprise information to different applications and components of themobile device, as well as to other devices. FIG. 8 illustrates anexample method for storing data within a data vault or container inconnection with a managed application. FIG. 8 illustrates a method thatis performed by the processing circuitry of the mobile device whenoperating in accordance with various software constructs stored in thememory of the mobile device. In some arrangements, the example method ofFIG. 8 may be performed by the client agent of the mobile device.

At step 801, the mobile device may receive data for storage. Forexample, access gateway, or other enterprise computing device, cantransmit documents or other data to the mobile device, which uponreceipt is to be stored at the mobile device. As used in this context,the data received at step 801 can comprise any form of data, such as acomputer-readable file or document, text, audio, video, and/or othertypes of information or media. The data can comprise any single one orcombination of these media types.

At step 803, the mobile device may determine whether the data is to bestored in a container. This may include accessing a policy stored by themobile device, analyzing the policy to determine whether the policyspecifies a particular container or not, and proceeding accordingly. Thepolicy may also further specify default action or different destinationsfor the data based on the source that transmitted the data (e.g., datareceived from the access gateway is always stored in a secure container,data received from the authentication server is stored in a containerdedicated to authentication) and/or based on the type of data received(e.g., data that includes audio or video is to be stored in a securecontainer for media, data that includes a document is to be stored in asecure container for documents, data that includes a policy is to bestored in a secure container for policies).

For example, if the mobile device determines that the policy specifies aparticular container, the mobile device may determine that the data isto be stored in a container and, accordingly, may proceed to step 807.Otherwise, the policy may not specify a container or a default storageaction for this data and the mobile device may determine that the datais not to be stored in a container and, accordingly, may proceed to step805. At step 805, the data may be stored in a location as specified bythe client agent. In some instances, the mobile device (or the clientagent) may store the data in a download folder commonly provided by amobile device's operating system or within an unmanaged partition of themobile (as discussed in connection with FIG. 5). In others, the mobiledevice (or client agent) may store the data in a default securecontainer (e.g., the private data vault of the application), which mayrequire first encrypting the data in a manner similar to step 807.

At step 807, the mobile device may encrypt the data. In somearrangements, the encryption method and key may be specified by apolicy. Further, the key may have been received via the access gateway.Encrypting the data may include accessing one or more other securecontainers on the mobile device. For example, the keys may be stored ina secure container for encryption/decryption keys and the key may beobtained by accessing such a container.

At step 809, the mobile device may store the data, which is nowencrypted, within a container (e.g., the container specified by thepolicy, as determined in step 803), such as those illustrated in any ofFIGS. 5-7 (e.g., container 528 of FIG. 5, the app private data vaults orshared data vaults of FIG. 6, and vaults 715, 720 of FIG. 7).

The container, in connection with the above-described steps and asdescribed further above in connection with FIGS. 5-7, may assist inpreventing unauthorized applications and other components of the mobiledevice from accessing information within the container. For enterprisesthat allow users to use their mobile device for accessing, storing, andusing enterprise data, providing containers helps to secure theenterprise data. For instance, a container can centralize enterprisedata in one location on each device, and can facilitate selective orcomplete deletion of enterprise data from the device.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method for performing a deletion of datafrom a mobile device. In particular, FIG. 9 illustrates an examplemethod suitable for performing a selective wipe of data from one or moresecure containers of a mobile device. Additionally, FIG. 9 illustrates amethod that is performed by the processing circuitry of the mobiledevice when operating in accordance with various software constructsstored in the memory of the mobile device. In some arrangements, theexample method of FIG. 9 may be performed by the client agent of themobile device.

At step 901, a mobile device may monitor operating conditions of themobile device. Embodiments described herein may be able to selectively(and remotely) wipe a user's mobile device of enterprise application(s)and corporate data when, for example, the user discontinues employmentor violates a corporate policy (such as if they jailbreak their deviceor otherwise use it in a disallowed configuration). Accordingly, themobile device may need to monitor for such conditions that violatecorporate policy or otherwise would cause a selective wipe to beperformed.

At step 903, the mobile device may determine to perform a selective wipeof data associated with one or more managed applications based on themonitored conditions. Such a determination may be performed in variousways. For example, if attempts are made to enter a valid passcode isfailed a threshold number of consecutive times (e.g., 5 or 10), themobile device may determine to perform a selective wipe. If theapplication that is associated with the private data vault isuninstalled, the mobile device may determine to perform a selectivewipe. In some embodiments, the enterprise's IT department can cause themobile device to make such a determination by remotely issuing a wipecommand to the device (e.g., via the access gateway). As anothercondition, when an application is switched from a managed application toan unmanaged application (e.g., the application switches from a managedmode of operation to an unmanaged mode of operation) or is switched frombeing stored in a managed partition of the mobile device to an unmanagedpartition, the mobile device may determine to perform a selective wipe.Other conditions include determining to perform a selective wipe basedon a user's attempt to jailbreak their device or otherwise use it in adisallowed configuration, or attempting to access enterprise data in amanner that violates temporal or geographic restrictions placed on suchaccess.

Another condition is related to a secure container serving as atemporary repository for documents and other data sent to the mobiledevice. Enterprise resources may be configured to send data to acontainer (e.g., via application tunnels) on a onetime or periodicbasis. For example, a sales-related enterprise resource may beprogrammed to send sales-related documents (e.g., most recent pricesheets) every morning to a particular secured container of mobiledevices registered for a team of users having sales-related roles (e.g.,sales persons) in the enterprise. The sales-related documents can havedocument access policies such that the documents will “self-destruct”(e.g., cause to be deleted or otherwise selectively wiped from thecontainer) at a certain time or at the expiration of a time periodbeginning at a defined event (e.g., the user's opening of a document).

Enterprise resources that send documents to one or more securecontainers may be integrated with other repositories for the purpose ofsending documents from such repositories to the containers, such as byintegrating with other enterprise systems (e.g., enterprise documentrepositories such as a Microsoft Sharepoint™ repository) or athird-party cloud computing system (e.g., a Box.net™ repository). Aselective wipe may be performed based on such repositories sendingdocuments to a secure container. Alternatively, a selective wipe may beperformed based on lifetime criteria associated with documents receivedfrom such repositories (e.g., a received document may be stored in thecontainer for 2 days, after which a selective wipe will be performed).

A backup service may be configured for a secure container. For example,a secure container may periodically send its contents to a secure backuplocation (e.g., via a microVPN to the access gateway and/or anotherlocation that is behind the access gateway). After the backup processhas been completed, the secure container may be selectively wiped.

Any of the above (or other) determinations to perform a selective wipemay be based on the policies stored by the mobile device. For example,when forming the determination to perform a selective wipe, the mobiledevice may compare the monitored conditions to one or more policies andif the conditions match a condition specified in the policy thatcommands a selective wipe, the mobile device may determine to perform aselective wipe.

At step 905, the mobile device may determine one or more securecontainers for the selective wipe. For example, the mobile device maydetermine which secure containers contain the data of the one or moremanaged applications. This determination may be based on informationspecified by policy or based on information known by the client agent,or as specified by a command received by the mobile device from theenterprise network.

At step 907, the mobile device may delete or otherwise make inaccessiblethe data of the one or more secure containers. For example, a containermay be configured to allow the client agent or mobile device to readfrom, write to, and/or delete information from the container's filesystem. Deleting data from the container can include deleting actualdata stored in the container, deleting pointers to data stored in thecontainer, deleting encryption keys used to decrypt data stored in thecontainer, and the like. The container can enable some or all of theenterprise data stored in its file system to be deleted withoutmodifying other data stored on the mobile device outside of thecontainer.

At step 909, the mobile device may transmit a selective wipeacknowledgement to the enterprise. Such an acknowledgement may providean indication to the enterprise that the selective wipe was successful.The acknowledgement may include a listing of applications and/or listingof secure containers that were affected/deleted by the selective wipe.Upon receipt, the enterprise (e.g., access gateway) may update itsstored records accordingly.

As discussed above, the application management framework that isdelivered with the managed application may configure itself (e.g., withthe client agent's assistance). When being configured, however, the usermay have legacy data that does not satisfy the requirements of theapplication management framework disclosed herein. For example, themobile device may have previously used a different corporate e-mailapplication that did not encrypt the data of the inbox and the like, andthe user would prefer to have access to the inbox data. Accordingly,such application data will have to be processed when the application isconfigured. FIG. 10 illustrates an example process in which a managedapplication is configured. Further, FIG. 10 illustrates a method thatcan be performed by the processing circuitry of the mobile device whenoperating in accordance with various software constructs stored in thememory of the mobile device. In some arrangements, the example method ofFIG. 10 may be performed by the client agent of the mobile device.

At step 1001, the mobile device may initiate a configuration process fora managed application. In some instances, the configuration may notoccur until the application first attempts to access an access resourceor access gateway. In others, the configuration may occur when themanaged application is installed on the mobile device. Configuration ofthe application may, in some embodiments, may include wrapping theapplication (e.g., via secure application wrapper 520 of FIG. 5).Additional details of the configuration process will be discussed inconnection with the remaining steps of FIG. 10.

At step 1003, the mobile device may obtain policy information for themanaged application. In some arrangements. The mobile device may alreadyhave policy information for the managed application stored on the mobiledevice. If the policy information does not exist, the mobile device maytransmit a request to the access gateway for the policy information.Alternatively, if the policy information does exist, the mobile devicethe mobile device may check for updated policy information bytransmitting a request to the access gateway for an update to the policyinformation. Subsequently, the policy information may be receivedresponsive to a request of the mobile device for the policy informationor for an update to policy information. Alternatively, the policyinformation may be received responsive to an authentication of the user,application or mobile device.

At step 1005, the mobile device may obtain key information for themanaged application. The key information may be for use with reading,writing or otherwise accessing secure containers on the mobile devicewhen the managed application is running. The key information may includeone or more encryption and/or decryption keys for the secure containers.The policies included in the policy information that was obtained atstep 1003 may define what secure containers are to be used as well astheir resource names or identifiers.

In some instances, obtaining the key information may be simply accessingthe key information stored on the mobile device. However, in someinstances (e.g., when the key information is not stored on the mobiledevice or the key information is to be updated), the mobile device maytransmit a request to the access gateway for the key information. Therequest may include information to identify which encryption anddecryption keys are needed for the application. For example, keys may beassigned based on a tuple of user, device, and application orapplication group, and the request for the key information may includeinformation identifying the tuple. In some embodiments, the request mayinclude a user credential, such as a certificate or single-sign-on (SSO)credential. In some variations, the user-credential may be the tuple orbe included as part of the above-discussed tuple. Some information, likeapplication group, may be specified by a policy that was obtained atstep 1003.

In some arrangements, the key information may be transmitted as part ofthe policy information, thus steps 1003 and 1005 may be combined one ormore of such arrangements. Additionally, the policy and key informationmay, in some variations, be received via a VPN tunnel, such as aMicroVPN (discussed above).

At step 1007, the mobile device may configure one or more securecontainers. For example, one or more secure containers may be defined bythe policy for the managed application. In some instances, the policymay include a definition of a private container (e.g., an app privatedata vault as illustrated in FIG. 6) and/or a shared container (e.g., ashared data vault as illustrated in FIG. 6). Based on the policy, themobile device may determine whether the containers have been properlycreated and configured on the mobile device. If a container does notalready exist, a new empty vault is initialized, including the filesystem for the container (e.g., empty directory tree). The accessmanager for the container may also be configured.

The policy-aware interception layer may also be configured to be awareof the secure containers. For example, the policy-aware interceptionlayer may be configured with information linking the identifiers orresource identifiers for the secure containers to one or more API callsthat will be issued by the application during execution and may beconfigured with the locations of the keys that will be used whenencrypting/decrypting data to/from the application. In such a way, thepolicy-aware interception layer may intercept such calls and redirectthe calls to the appropriate secure container in accordance with thepolicy and without the application being aware of the interception (see,e.g. FIG. 7).

At step 1009, the mobile device may determine whether legacy data forthe managed application is to be configured for the application. In someinstances, this determination may be based on the policy for theapplication. For example, legacy data may be stored on the mobile device(e.g., inbox data for an e-mail client that the managed application isreplacing may be stored on the mobile device). Accordingly, an ITadministrator may configure the policy so that, for example, a locationof the legacy data is defined within the policy and/or an indicationthat the mobile device is to transfer legacy data for the managedapplication when configuring the application. The policy may specifylocations for the legacy data such as external data storage locations,folders located on the mobile device, or secure containers located onthe mobile device. The policy may also define an amount of legacy datato move to the secure containers (e.g., a maximum amount of raw data, anumber of days of e-mails, all data, etc.).

In some variations, determining to configure legacy data may be based oninformation in addition to policy-based criteria. For example, theclient agent may be configured to perform a search (e.g., a recursivesearch) of the application sandbox for any legacy data associated withthe managed application and based on the search convert the legacy dataas required. Additionally, the client agent may be configured with anexclusion list (e.g., a list of folders that should not besearched/accessed for legacy data).

In some arrangements, the legacy data may be stored remotely, such as byan enterprise resource. The policy may indicate the location of theenterprise resource that stores the legacy data.

If the mobile device determines that legacy data for the managedapplication is to be configured for the application, the method mayproceed to step 1011. Otherwise, the method may end resulting in themanaged application being configured for execution on the mobile devicealong with the policy information, key information and secure containersused when executing the application.

At step 1011, the mobile device may encrypt the legacy data. In somevariations, the encryption may be performed in accordance with thepolicy. For example, the mobile device may retrieve, from the locationwhere the legacy data is stored, an amount of data in accordance withthe policy. The mobile device may then encrypt the data in accordancewith the policy (e.g., using the protocols specified by the policy andusing the keys specified by the policies). Some data may be encryptedusing different keys based on which of the one or more secure containersthey will be stored into.

At step 1013, the mobile device may store the legacy data, which is nowencrypted, in one or more secure containers. Such storing may also be inaccordance with the policy. For example, some data may be specified asbeing stored in one container (e.g., a private container), while otherdata may be specified as being stored in a different container (e.g., ashared container). Accordingly, the data may be stored into theappropriate containers in their encrypted form. Such storage may beperformed by updating or creating references to the location of theencrypted data in the secure container's file system.

In some instances, after steps 1011 and 1013 have been successfullyperformed, any legacy data that remains on the mobile device in itsunencrypted form may be deleted from the mobile device.

While the above method describes configuring data vaults when initiallyconfiguring an application for execution on the mobile device, similarmethods may be utilized when policy information changes for the mobiledevice. Indeed, the mobile device (or the client agent) may analyzeupdated policy information for changes to the encryption/decryptionpolicies and/or the secure containers that are used when executing themanaged application. Based on the changes, the mobile device may takevarious steps to ensure the policy is correctly enforced such as, forexample, by changing the configuration of a secure container, create anew container, delete an unused container, re-encrypt data, decryptdata, delete data and/or move data to different storage locations.

As discussed above, when a user executes a managed application on themobile device, the user is typically challenged to authenticate theircorporate identity along with passwords and other factors as dictated bycorporate policy. After having strongly authenticated the user, device,and application, the access manager components of the system may verifythat the user is entitled to the application and download the configuredpolicies for this specific application and user. Keys and other datathat are needed to access/provide secure containers may also bedownloaded to the mobile device. FIG. 11 illustrates various aspects forproviding authentication in connection with accessing secure containers.In particular, FIG. 11 illustrates an example method for providingencryption and decryption keys for secure containers. Additionally, FIG.11 illustrates a method that is performed by the processing circuitry ofthe mobile device when operating in accordance with various softwareconstructs stored in the memory of the mobile device. In somearrangements, the example method of FIG. 11 may be performed by theclient agent of the mobile device.

At step 1101, the mobile device may transmit a message in connectionwith authenticating a user, application or mobile device with an accessgateway. For example, the message may be in connection with an initialauthentication process that authenticates a user prior to allowing amanaged application, which is executing on a mobile device, access toenterprise resources (e.g., a message transmitted to cause the mobiledevice or user to log into the enterprise to access the enterpriseresources). In others, the message may be in connection withauthenticating the user or mobile device prior to allowing a managedapplication to be downloaded.

In some variations, the message may be transmitted as part of a periodicupdate of key information for secure containers. For example,periodically the keys for the secure containers may need to be refreshed(e.g., as dictated by the time to live policy setting for the keys).When refreshing, as long as the user has maintained an active logon withthe access gateway, the refreshing of keys can occur without userinteraction. If user logs off or their logon session expires, then therefreshing of keys will need to be fully authenticated again (e.g.,request the user to supply the authentication credentials, such asusername and password or certificate, again). In such variations, themessage may include a request for key information and may include anidentification of the user, application or mobile device so that theaccess gateway can confirm authorization to the updated key information(e.g., based on the active logon session).

At step 1103, the mobile device may receive key information for use withreading, writing or otherwise accessing secure containers on the mobiledevice. For example, keys may be assigned based on a tuple of user,device, and application or application group. An enterprise keymanagement server or the access gateway may have knowledge of the keysand the associations of the keys to the specific users, devices,applications, or application groups. Accordingly, the key managementserver or access gateway may determine the key information that is to besent to the mobile device and may transmit the key information to themobile device.

Accordingly, the key information received by the mobile device mayinclude the encryption keys and/or decryption keys required to read,write or otherwise access secure containers, including both sharedvaults and private vaults (see, e.g., FIG. 6 and FIG. 7). The keyinformation may include information that identifies which users,devices, applications, application groups, and/or secure containers eachkey is to be used for. In some variations, the key information may takethe form of a listing of secure container identifiers with eachidentifier being associated with a respective encryption key and adecryption key for use with that secure container.

In some arrangements, the key information may be transmitted as part ofan update to the policies stored by the mobile device. Additionally, thekey information may, in some variations, be received via a VPN tunnel,such as a MicroVPN (discussed above).

Upon receipt of the key information, the mobile device may store the keyinformation at step 1105 so that, for example, the key information canbe used by the secure containers and/or client agent. In somearrangements, the key information may be stored in a secure containeror, for example, in the managed partition of the mobile device.Additionally, in some instances, the secure containers and client agentsmay need further configuring based on the key information. Suchconfiguring may be performed at step 1107. For example, if the keyinformation specifies keys for secure containers that are not yetcreated by the mobile device, the mobile device may determine to createone or more secure containers based on the key information (e.g., basedon one of the secure container identifiers on the listing of securecontainer identifiers not having a matching container created on themobile device) and, accordingly, create the one or more securecontainers (including the file system and access manager for the securecontainer) and configure the client agent to facilitate accessing thesecure container.

As discussed above, after preparing the application, the managedapplication may be uploaded to a server for the purpose of publishingthe application for the enterprise users to consume, such as via anapplication store. As part of this application publishing workflow, anIT administrator or other user may choose policies that apply to theapplication and associated user roles. Once uploaded and configured, theapplications may be made available to organization's employees to peruseand install based on their role within the organization. Alternatively,such applications can be pushed directly to mobile devices for employeeswho have enrolled their device with a corporate MDM server. FIG. 12illustrates an example method for publishing a managed application suchthat, for example, a user is able to download the application and anylinked policy information and key information. Various steps may beperformed by one or more computing devices of an enterprise network,such as an access gateway or application store server (e.g., app store578 of FIG. 5).

At step 1201, policy information may be determined and linked to anapplication to be published. The policy information may include one ormore policies for the application and each policy may be specific to adifferent user role associated with the enterprise (e.g., one policy fora sales employee; a different policy for a designer, etc.) orapplication group. As discussed throughout this disclosure, the policiescan include various constraints to be enforced by the mobile device inconnection with the application, which may be meant to be executed as amanaged application on the mobile device. The policy information mayinclude one or more secure container identifiers that will be used inconnection with reading/writing or otherwise processing data when theapplication is executed by the mobile device. The secure containers maybe, for example, an identifier for a private data vault and/or a shareddata vault. In some arrangements, an IT administrator or other user mayselect or otherwise configure the content of the policy information(e.g., via a graphical interface, the IT administrator or other user mayprovide input that causes the policy information to be configuredaccordingly).

At step 1203, key information may be determined and linked to theapplication to be published. The key information may include one or moreencryption and/or decryption keys for reading, writing or otherwiseaccessing the one or more secure containers identified in the policyinformation. In some arrangements, an IT administrator (or other user)of the enterprise may select or otherwise configure the content of thekey information (e.g., via a graphical interface, the IT administratoror other user may provide input that causes the key information to beconfigured accordingly).

In some arrangements, the key information may be included in the policyinformation.

At step 1205, the application, policy information and key informationmay be published or otherwise made accessible for download to a mobiledevice. For example, the application, policy information and keyinformation may be published to an application store.

At step 1207, the application, policy information and key informationmay be transmitted to a mobile device. Such transmission may, in someembodiments, be performed responsive to a request to download theapplication. In others, it may be performed responsive to a push commandthat automatically causes the application, policy information and keyinformation to the mobile device (e.g., based on a registration in sucha push service).

Additionally, at step 1209, an update to the policy information, keyinformation and/or application may be transmitted to the mobile device.For example, the mobile device may be registered in an update servicewith the application store. Accordingly, if the policy information orkey information that is published to the application store is updated,the updated policy or key information may be transmitted to the mobiledevice (e.g., based on the registration in the update service). In somevariations, transmission of an update to the policy information and/orkey information may be performed without updating the application.Further, the user of the mobile device may be unaware of the update tothe policy and/or key information.

The transmissions of steps 1207 and 1209 may, in some variations, beperformed using one or more VPN tunnels, such as a MicroVPN (discussedabove).

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in any claim is not necessarily limitedto the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts described above are described as some exampleimplementations of the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method, comprising: as part of a process of configuring amanaged application of a mobile device such that the managed applicationis able to be executed in accordance with a management framework definedby policy information received by the mobile device via an accessgateway: determining that legacy data associated with an application ofthe mobile device that was executed not in accordance with themanagement framework is to be configured for the managed application;responsive to determining that the legacy data is to be configured forthe managed application, encrypting the legacy data, resulting inencrypted legacy data; storing a first set of the encrypted legacy datain a private secure container, wherein the private secure container isdefined by the policy information and is private to the managedapplication; and storing a second set of the encrypted legacy data in ashared secure container, wherein the shared secure container is definedby the policy information and is shared with at least one other managedapplication of the mobile device.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: obtaining, via the access gateway, key information thatincludes one or more keys for encrypting or decrypting data of theprivate secure container or the shared secure container.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the policy information defines that the privatesecure container and the shared secure container are to be used when themanaged application is executing.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: intercepting a read or write operation from the managedapplication while the managed application is executing on the mobiledevice, wherein the read or write operation comprises an applicationprogramming interface (API) call available via a file system of themobile device, wherein the file system of the mobile device is differentfrom both a file system of the private secure container and a filesystem of the shared secure container, and wherein the read or writeoperation indicates a type of data to be read or written; determining,based on the policy information and the type of data to be read orwritten, whether to redirect the read or write operation to the sharedsecure container or the private secure container; and based on thedetermining, redirecting the read or write operation to the privatesecure container or the shared secure container.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising: configuring the private secure container and theshared secure container based on the policy information, wherein theprivate secure container and the shared secure container are each alogical interface into which data is read from and written to in anencrypted form
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the private securecontainer is a private data vault that is accessible to only the managedapplication.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the shared securecontainer is a shared data vault that is accessible only to the managedapplication and the at least one other managed application of the mobiledevice, wherein the policy information is assigned to the managedapplication and the at least one other managed application of the mobiledevice.
 8. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and memorystoring executable instructions configured to, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus to: as part of a process ofconfiguring a managed application of the apparatus such that the managedapplication is able to be executed in accordance with a managementframework defined by policy information received by the apparatus via anaccess gateway: determine that legacy data associated with anapplication of the apparatus that was executed not in accordance withthe management framework is to be configured for the managedapplication; responsive to determining that the legacy data is to beconfigured for the managed application, encrypt the legacy data,resulting in encrypted legacy data; store a first set of the encryptedlegacy data in a private secure container, wherein the private securecontainer is defined by the policy information and is private to themanaged application; and store a second set of the encrypted legacy datain a shared secure container, wherein the shared secure container isdefined by the policy information and is shared with at least one othermanaged application of the apparatus.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus to: obtain, via the access gateway, keyinformation that includes one or more keys for encrypting or decryptingdata of the private secure container or the shared secure container. 10.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the policy information defines thatthe private secure container and the shared secure container are to beused when the managed application is executing.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus to: intercept a read or writeoperation from the managed application while the managed application isexecuting on the apparatus, wherein the read or write operationcomprises an application programming interface (API) call available viaa file system of the apparatus, wherein the file system of the apparatusis different from both a file system of the private secure container anda file system of the shared secure container, and wherein the read orwrite operation indicates a type of data to be read or written;determine, based on the policy information and the type of data to beread or written, whether to redirect the read or write operation to theshared secure container or the private secure container; and based onthe determining, redirect the read or write operation to the privatesecure container or the shared secure container.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus to: configure the privatesecure container and the shared secure container based on the policyinformation, wherein the private secure container and the shared securecontainer are each a logical interface into which data is read from andwritten to in an encrypted form
 13. The apparatus of claim 8, whereinthe private secure container is a private data vault that is accessibleto only the managed application, and wherein the shared secure containeris a shared data vault that is accessible only to the managedapplication and the at least one other managed application of theapparatus, wherein the policy information is assigned to the managedapplication and the at least one other managed application of theapparatus.
 14. One or more non-transitory memory storing executableinstructions configured to, when executed, cause an apparatus to: aspart of a process of configuring a managed application of the apparatussuch that the managed application is able to be executed in accordancewith a management framework defined by policy information received bythe apparatus via an access gateway: determine that legacy dataassociated with an application of the apparatus that was executed not inaccordance with the management framework is to be configured for themanaged application; responsive to determining that the legacy data isto be configured for the managed application, encrypt the legacy data,resulting in encrypted legacy data; store a first set of the encryptedlegacy data in a private secure container, wherein the private securecontainer is defined by the policy information and is private to themanaged application; and store a second set of the encrypted legacy datain a shared secure container, wherein the shared secure container isdefined by the policy information and is shared with at least one othermanaged application of the apparatus.
 15. The one or more non-transitorymemory of claim 14, wherein the executable instructions, when executed,cause the apparatus to: obtain, via the access gateway, key informationthat includes one or more keys for encrypting or decrypting data of theprivate secure container or the shared secure container.
 16. The one ormore non-transitory memory of claim 14, wherein the policy informationdefines that the private secure container and the shared securecontainer are to be used when the managed application is executing. 17.The one or more non-transitory memory of claim 16, wherein theexecutable instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to:intercept a read or write operation from the managed application whilethe managed application is executing on the apparatus, wherein the reador write operation comprises an application programming interface (API)call available via a file system of the apparatus, wherein the filesystem of the apparatus is different from both a file system of theprivate secure container and a file system of the shared securecontainer, and wherein the read or write operation indicates a type ofdata to be read or written; determine, based on the policy informationand the type of data to be read or written, whether to redirect the reador write operation to the shared secure container or the private securecontainer; and based on the determining, redirect the read or writeoperation to the private secure container or the shared securecontainer.
 18. The one or more non-transitory memory of claim 14,wherein the executable instructions, when executed, cause the apparatusto: configure the private secure container and the shared securecontainer based on the policy information, wherein the private securecontainer and the shared secure container are each a logical interfaceinto which data is read from and written to in an encrypted form
 19. Theone or more non-transitory memory of claim 14, wherein the privatesecure container is a private data vault that is accessible to only themanaged application.
 20. The one or more non-transitory memory of claim14, wherein the shared secure container is a shared data vault that isaccessible only to the managed application and the at least one othermanaged application of the apparatus, wherein the policy information isassigned to the managed application and the at least one other managedapplication of the apparatus.